January 16, 2008 - February 18, 2008

Monday, February 18, 2008 Ah, the Irony Current mood: confused Just go figure, would ya. I make the commitment to my friends to do the catering at their restaurant, and almost as soon as the ink is dry I get an e-mail asking me to do catering for a six-month U.S. tour. I'm conflicted. This is what I've been wanting to do for well over a year now, especially since I started doing the music festival thing. Now what??? 8:50 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, February 17, 2008 Lyre, Liar Current mood: angsty Martin! Robin and I went to see the Lyres last night! They were awesome. Good times at Midway last night, despite the fact that my friend (who shall remain nameless) knocked over a table of drinks not only once, but three times! Fun? Gah. 9:26 AM - 2 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Friday, February 15, 2008 Mixing Paint, or Playing Drums? Current mood: amused Sondra made the offer to drop me off at the PATH train, and how could I refuse! I had been at the restaurant since 10:30 in the morning, and it was just about to be half past 1:00 a.m. It was time for me to make my hour (sometimes plus) journey home - and fast. Well, as you may or may not know, there's nothing fast about the PATH train, and especially at 1:30 a.m. Lucky for me, I had some entertainment while I waited to get back into the city. There was a man sort of pacing about the platform when I first went down the stairs to catch my ride. I didn't really notice anything about him in the least, because "A", I was tired, and "B", people do odd things all over this fair city, so why should I notice (or seem like I notice). Pacing about nervously is probably one of the least egregious of the acts that one can commit on a train platform, to say the least. I went about my business, put my head phones on, and feigned indifference. That's when suddenly he switched up his MO. He removed from the inside of his jacket, not one, but TWO paint stirrers, and then began to pace about in a somewhat more frantic manner. That's when I took off my headphones so I could listen to the audio portion of the "program". He began humming (or something like that, along with an occasional squeak) to a tune that I couldn't make out, and then suddenly yelled out, "James Brown"! Shortly after that, he murmured, "Barry White". Still not making eye contact with him, but watching all that was going on, I noticed that he started tapping away at the pillars in the train station with his paint stirrers. He would tap away, and then yell once again, "James Brown", followed by a far more subtle, "Barry White". This all continued until my train made it's way to the train platform. Ye know, the funny thing about all of this was that despite the fact that his musical medium was a train platform pillar and some pain stirrers, he seemed like he may have been a pretty good drummer. 8:39 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, February 11, 2008 Rekkids Current mood: catalyzed Off I went to make my way into the city to meet my friend Dave for brunch, when suddenly I found myself in the record store. Oops. $50.00 later, I became the proud owner of these three CDs: The Oscillation - Out of Phase I went out on a limb with this one. It was $20.00, and I had never heard of them, but it had a little note that it was for fans of Spacemen 3 and Krautrock. Hi! That's me! It was a $20.00 well spent. A modern approach to psych, if you will, with bass lines that call on Jah Wobble. The Fiery Furnaces - Gallowsbird's Bark The jury is out. I'm in the midst of listening to it right now, and I'm not quite sure what I think. It sort of reminds me of this band that I used to see in LA called Sweetcream USA, which isn't such a bad thing. Clinic - Visitations A listen has yet to happen, but I will say that I've always been a fan. I expect good things. Currently reading : Catering: A Guide to Managing a Successful Business Operation By Bruce Mattel Release date: 11 February, 2008 7:47 AM - 3 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Friday, February 01, 2008 Pastry World Current mood: accomplished Category: Food and Restaurants As some of you may or may not know, I've been hired at my friends' restaurant as not only the Catering Director, but also as the Executive Pastry Chef. To say I'm excited is somewhat of an understatement. I've been enjoying the past year of running around the country feeding the "artists" at music festivals, but there comes a point where you just have to wonder if it's all worth it. That being said, though, I would definitely consider doing a regular tour if given the opportunity. I'm just waiting for that call from Dega Catering in Knoxville! My first priority as Catering Director and Chef is to nail down sample menus to submit to would be clients, which for the most part has been taken care of. Now I need to put it all in a cohesive package and then find those would be clients. That's going to be the hard part. Me? A salesperson? Hardly, I'd say. That's why I work in kitchens so I don't have to deal with the general public. I'll make it happen, though, and who knows, maybe in the end I'll enjoy that aspect of it. Maybe??? As for the Executive Pastry Chef aspect of it, my first priority was to come up with a new pastry menu for the spring. That's all been done, and here it is! Thai Tea Cream Tart with a Ginger Crisp Crust and Candied Kumquats Warm Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake with Cardamom Cream Saffron Rice Pudding with Maple, Cayenne and Pistachio Brittle Meyer Lemon Panna Cotta, Chocolate and Black Cherry Biscotti Blood Orange and Black Cherry Compote Rosewater Cream Konafa Middle Eastern Shredded Filo and Custard with Rosewater Essence Hibiscus Reduction (this will be introduced in the summer) I can't wait to test all of these recipes next week and get them out on the menu! I'll let y'all know when that happens, and you'll have to stop on in to try out my wares! On that note, off to the restaurant I go! Currently listening : Zen Arcade By Hüsker Dü Release date: 25 October, 1990 3:35 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, January 27, 2008 Iron Chef, Indeed Current mood: amused The other day, I was sent off to do a party for Delta 360°. For those of you who are not familiar with Delta 360°, it is a new marketing campaign that Delta Airlines is in the midst of. It's apparently meant to "revolutionize" air travel as we know it. Their main objective is to change the food and beverages that are served to customers, as well as the level of service that is provided both at ground level, and in the air. The thing about the food is that they've brought aboard Todd English (one of those celebrity chefs - most recently of Olives fame, in Boston) to entirely revamp their menus. They have also hired a "mixologist" to prepare drinks such as pomegranate martinis, and the like, to serve in individual bottles while on board the aircraft. This particular "mixologist's" name escapes me, though. Hardly important, I suppose. Delta has been having these marketing events for the past several months to show the general public what exactly it is that they are made of. Within these events, they not only serve the general public food from local restaurants, but they also have cooking demos from people who would be considered "celebrity chefs" They hired one of the catering companies that I freelance for to only help with the service of the food. There's no cooking involved at all. We were only there to dish it out. Easy. At this particular event, I had the pleasure of working with a chef from a place called Mai House, which is located in Tribeca. They serve modernized Vietnamese cuisine, and what I tried was excellent. They served a Shiitake mushroom summer roll (which I didn't try) and clay pot chicken, which was very gingery, and had just the right amount of spiciness, with a nice balance of saltiness from the fish sauce. He used all dark meat, which is always the right choice in my book. Not only was the food good, but the chef and the manager were very gracious as well. The other chef from Centro Vinotecca, on the other hand, was not gracious in the least bit. She came in, with no introduction, and immediately started making demands. There wasn't enough space, who was going to assist her, she needs more time, etc., etc., etc. If you've ever watched Iron Chef America, she's Mario Batali's sous chef on the show. She's the one that's always wearing a skirt under her chef jacket. Here's to being a celebrity, I suppose. Julio, my co-worker, and I had fun at the event nonetheless. Julio is a sixty year old, very sassy, gay Brazilian man, and he's so much fun to work with; that is unless he's in one of his moods, which is usually in the catering kitchen as opposed to at the events. But I digress. Having moved on from that day, yesterday, after a nice day at work making Swedish meatballs and Roasted Mushroom summer rolls, I made my way to the Cowgirl Hall of Fame with my friends Linda and Lindsay. Good times, that's for sure. Cowgirl Hall of Fame is where my friend's Susie Mai and Johnny Ray work, and we're always treated to a great time whenever we make our way over there. Cowgirl has a Texan motif happening, and true to form they serve a lot of Southern/Tex-Mex classics. They even have Frito Pie, which is essentially a bag of Fritos, with a blob of chili on top. They have really good Margaritas and they make a good salty dog as well. We had their really messy but tasty nachos, some enchiladas, and a few drinks, then made our way back to Brooklyn to meet Lindsay's boyfriend, Jose. Jose, who is from Equador, invited over to Linda's house a bunch of his friends, all of them from South America. It was a pretty entertaining scene. If you can imagine, it was me, Lindsay, and Linda (all of us being somewhat typical Americans) all in Linda's little Bushwick apartment with all of her records and quirky art on the wall, with six South American guys. Too much fun, I must say! We actually were doing the limbo at one point in the evening, which might explain why my neck feels the way that it does today. One of the funniest moments of the evening was when Linda's Cousin, Marco, came home, and the room suddenly became very quiet. I guess they thought that Marco was Linda's husband, and that there would be trouble because all of these guys were in their house at 3:00 in the morning doing the limbo. Shortly after Marco came home, Jon came home, and the room got quiet again. This time, though, Linda's husband really was home! Oh oh! Not. He jumped into party mode right away, started DJing, was getting his picture taken with them, and it all seemed like they had been best friends for years and years. Here's to the modern world! Currently listening : Here Come the Miracles By Steve Wynn Release date: 20 November, 2001 1:34 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 New Pie, New Pics Current mood: busy I finally got around to making that pie. Here it is! It wasn't a lattice top, but hey, it is what it is. At least I put a cute little apple on top. I also got around to putting some new pics up. Neat, I guess. Tomorrow I go back to caterville for more tea sandwich and crudite making. Please make it stop. .. Currently reading : Hopscotch (Pantheon Modern Writers Series) By Julio Cortazar Release date: 12 February, 1987 3:21 PM - 7 Comments - 5 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Monday, January 21, 2008 Bowl Current mood: lazy I got the call sometime in the afternoon yesterday from Greg K., "I'm going to the fabric store, then we're all going bowling!" Even though it's probably been fifteen years since I last tossed a ball at some pins, I just couldn't resist making the trip in the January Arctic temperatures to someplace called Melody Lanes in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I can't wait to go again! I actually even broke one hundred on one of the games, something that I've probably done only once in my life! That's not the point, though. What really mattered was that we all were hanging out, we had a great time, and it wasn't just sitting at some lame bar with overpriced drinks and snobby staff. It was a great way to finish up a birthday weekend. This morning when I woke up, I suddenly thought that it would be a perfect day to make a lattice top apple pie. I've started the crust, and it's now chilling in the refrigerator. Next step is to get it together to actually assemble the pie. But alas, I have succumbed to the powers of macaroni and cheese, and would much rather take a nap. You see, in addition to pie making, today's activities included cleaning out the refrigerator to find nearly half a dozen different cheeses that were hiding under my roommate's ten thousand pounds of kale. Of course I couldn't resist to make some homemade macaroni and cheese with my newly found hidden treasure. Wouldn't you do the same? Rv came over and we had four-cheese macaroni and cheese, red leaf salad with fennel, orange segments, radishes, and a citrus vinaigrette. We then finished the meal with some Croation hot chocolate that Robin brought over. Time to get it together to make the pie, I guess. Currently reading : The Pie and Pastry Bible By Rose Levy Beranbaum Release date: 11 November, 1998 10:31 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Sunday, January 20, 2008 M is for Mud Wrestling Current mood: hungover Yesterday's birthday festivities got off to a great start with me being woken up by Linda with her famous cheesey eggs and a mimosa. Yummy yum yum. Actually, the festivities started out the night before with my good friend Matt. He treated me to a great dinner at DuMont, a few Manhattans and some rock music at Union Pool. Good times. I had the braised Berkshire pork belly with parsnip puree and cippolini onions. Yum again. I then made my way over to Linda's for some wine and Guinness. Oh, me and my bon vivant lifestyle! After our eggs and Mimosas, Linda, Nigel, Jon and I all went to see Alien Vs. Predator at the Ridgewood theater. Horrible movie, but damn if we didn't have a good time. Nothing like watching a really bad sci-fi/horror flick with good friends and some beer. It sort of felt like a new version of Mystery Science Theater with our running drunken commentary and senseless bantor. The movie came to an end and we made our way back to Linda's to kill some time before dinner at M. Did I mention that I was having a good time? Sometime around 7:45 we called the car service and made our way to M. If you haven't been to M, I would highly recommend that you make a trip to the restaurant. M makes high-quality Chinese fare with somewhat of a modern twist. Many of their dishes are very authentic in flavor and technique, while others such as the "Freddy Mercury's Meatballs" have Asian flavors, but aren't necesarilly true to form. Delicious, nonetheless. There were about fifteen of us and we all passed around our dishes to share with one another. Some things that I had were the aforementioned Freddy Mercury's Meatballs, which are awesome, some very delicate and well flavored vegetable dumplings, and some spare ribs which were a little dry for my liking. Oh, and the pork shumai were amazing, especially with the spicy dipping sauce that accompanied them. I neglected to try the tofu sheets which is a dish that Linda swears by. There's always next time. After my second Manhattan and a shot of Jameson's, we regrouped and made our way to some crazy party where the featured event was mud wrestling. Yes, that's right, mud wrestling. How could the evening be any better with a mud wrestling nightcap. Unfortunately, I didn't last long at this party and actually missed the mud wrestling. Given my state at the time, I decided that it would be better if I wasn't in public anymore, and sensibly made my way back to my house. Here's to being sensible, I suppose. Here's to being 38! Currently listening : Listen to Your Left Brain By The Chinese Stars Release date: 20 March, 2007 7:43 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

Wednesday, January 16, 2008 6000 Is My Lucky Number. Current mood: insubordinate Against my better judgement, I arrived at work this chilly morning at 6:00 a.m., and was immediately presented with my one and only task for the day. I was to prepare the ingredients and then actually make three different types of tea sandwiches, each batch amounting to two thousand pieces. I've never been that good at math, but let me see, 3x2,000=6,000! Is that not correct? Yes, my calculator has confirmed it. I made six thousand individual tea sandwiches, unsightly crusts removed and all. On top of it, I made four hundred Greek chicken wraps, but I'm not even going to go into that. I have another 6:00 a.m. call tomorrow, and if I am asked to make any more sandwiches - tea or otherwise - I'm certain my head will fall off right then and there. I suppose I had better bring a basket to set beside me just in case. Currently reading : Martha Stewart’s Hors d’Oeuvres Handbook By Martha Stewart Release date: 30 March, 1999 4:59 PM - 3 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove